Rhododendron occidentale
Marble Mts. Wilderness, CA
red fir and mountain hemlock forest,
One-Mile Lake, July 2004
 

Trees and Shrubs of Kern County (Sep 2012)

Rhododendron occidentale (Azalea occidentalis Torrey & A. Gray 1857) A. Gray 1876. Western rhododendron,  A large sparingly branched shrub with a cluster of large leaves (3–6 cm) persisting mostly near the tips of branches; bark peeling; flowering Apr-Aug, flowers large (3.5–5 cm), mostly white. Coast and montane forests in California, from central coastal California to Oregon, further south along the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges. Western azalea patches recognized in MCV2 as “provisional.” Type from Laguna de Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., CA. Kern Co.: Known from the Greenhorn Range near Cane Springs.